Recycle What is recycling Recycling is the

Recycle

What is recycling? Recycling is the process of collecting materials that are often considered trash and remanufacturing them into new products that can be resold and used again. It is made possible by people who separate the recyclable products from their trash and send the items to a recycling center where the products are reprocessed into new items. Recycling can also include reusing products for different purposes in your own home instead of throwing them away, such as using an old coffee can as a planter or a milk carton as a bird feeder. “Reduce, reuse, recycle” is the mantra we often hear every time there’s a discussion about recycling. Reducing waste means not only to reduce the volume of waste that goes to the landfills, but it also means decreasing the amount of dangerous chemicals that seep into the soil and pollute the air due to improper waste disposal. Reuse is basically extending the usage of most of the items we have in the house by reusing or donating these items to others in a free recycle group, for example. To complete the cycle, we must do it as part of our lifestyle to purchase and use products made from recycled materials.

What's in your Rubbish Bin? A large percentage of household's still do not recycle enough and throw everything that they consider 'rubbish' into their ordinary bin. Much of this waste can be recycled and should be disposed of separately to general household waste. Look inside this rubbish bin to see how much of the contents should actually have been recycled. Check our list on the right to see how to recycle different materials.

Why is recycling important? Recycling is more important than ever because just throwing away trash in a landfill or digging a hole and burying it is not a solution to the waste problem. Most natural trash items like food can break down and decompose in a matter of weeks, leaving no trace of it in the environment. But for man-made products like glass, plastic bags and aluminum cans it may take months or years to break down. Here are some averages for how long it takes certain products to biodegrade in the earth: • • • Plastic soda bottles: 1 million years Glass: 1 million years Aluminum cans: 50 to 200 years Paper: 1 to 5 months Disposable diaper: 500 years Batteries: 100 years

Structure of a Landfill

WHAT CAN BE RECYCLED? 1) GLASS Glass is completely recyclable and saves precious energy resources. Making products from recycled glass uses less energy than starting from scratch. Recycled glass is made into new beverage bottles, food jars, insulation and other construction materials. Usually, clear glass containers are recycled into new clear glass products, while colored glass containers are recycled into new colored glass products. For this reason, some recycling programs may ask you to separate glass containers by color. Many curbside recycling programs will collect clear and colored glass containers and Separate them for you. Since food in containers can attract insects, rinse them in water. Labels do not need to be removed. Some recycling programs will ask that lids and metal rings around the necks of containers be removed. DO NOT include window glass, ceramics, light bulbs or ovenware, because these items can damage a glass manufacturer's furnace. 2) STEEL CANS Steel cans are eagerly sought by the steel industry because they are a good source of steel scrap and their tin coating also can be recovered and recycled. A magnet sticks to steel cans. You might want to flatten food and beverage cans to save space. As with other recyclable containers, they should be rinsed. Many recycling programs also collect empty steel aerosol cans and paint cans.

WHAT CAN BE RECYCLED? 4) PLASTIC 3) ALUMINUM Aluminum is the most valuable of household recyclables. Aluminum cans are recycled to produce new aluminum cans. By recycling aluminum cans, you are helping to conserve energy. To make sure that a can is aluminum, use a magnet and see that it DOES NOT stick to the can's top and sides. Rinse the cans to prevent attracting insects and crush them if you need to save space. Other sources of household aluminum such as clean aluminum foil, clean pie tins, aluminum siding, and the metal frames of aluminum lawn furniture also can be recycled. These items, however, may not be accepted by your local program or may require special handling. Check with your local recycling program. The plastics industry has developed a coding system to help consumers identify different types of plastic resins used in packaging. The codes can be found on the bottom of most plastic containers. Of the many types of plastics used in packaging, two types of plastic from household trash are commonly recycled today: Plastic Soda Bottles: The material used to make plastic soda bottles (polythylene terephthalate or PET) is recyclable. These bottles are coded with the number 1 and the letters PETE. About 30 percent of all PET bottles sold are recycled into a variety of products. The bottles you recycle could end up as carpet backing, sleeping bag insulation, containers for non-food items, tool handles, auto parts and even clothing. Rinse, remove caps and rings, and flatten bottles to save space. Plastic Milk Jugs: The plastic used in one-gallon milk and water jugs (high density polyethylene or HDPE) is also recycled to make products such as trash cans, flower pots and plastic pipe. Your recycling program may also accept other HDPE containers such as those sued for laundry products. These containers are coded with the number 2 and the letters HDPE. As with other containers, rinse and flatten them to save space.

WHAT CAN BE RECYCLED? 5) NEWSPAPER Newspapers are commonly recycled into paperboard, newsprint, insulation and animal bedding products. Recycling newspapers saves valuable space in landfills. Put newspapers in paper bags or tie in bundles with string. In general, you can include any inserts (advertisements, comics) originally delivered with the paper.

How Does Recycling Work? At its best, recycling is a five-stage, closed-loop process, beginning with the purchase of recycled or recyclable products. After the products are used, they are collected for recycling, prepared for shipping, shipped to market, and finally reprocessed into new products or materials. The new products are then available to be purchased and used to continue the cycle.

What are the benefits of recycling? We cannot sustain our consumerist lifestyle without getting inundated by garbage and exhausting the earth’s resources. The products that we use are wrapped in several layers of packaging material that are perfectly recyclable – plastic, aluminum, paper, tin, wood, etc. Solid waste disposal experts engage in an uphill struggle to contain this virtual avalanche of garbage we produce everyday. It is apparent that digging a hole, a landfill, is clearly not the answer. Sooner or later, the waste becomes uncontainable and will spill into our farming areas, forests, and water sources. Here a few reasons why: • Conserves natural resources such as wood, water and minerals • Saves energy because less energy is used to manufacture brand new products • Produces less greenhouse gases because industries burn fewer fossil fuels • Recycling programs cost less than waste disposal programs • You can receive money for turning in certain recyclable products • Recycling centers create 4 jobs for every 1 job in the waste disposal industry • Recycling programs keep 70 tons of waste from being deposited into landfills every year • Prevents the destruction of natural habitats • Decreases soil erosion associated with mining and logging

Useful Link Monday, May 10, 2010 THE Minister of Development has called for public support to protect the environment by observing the 3 Rs concept of reduce, reuse and recycle. Minister Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdullah Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar said the ministry was trying to get the public's support for the 3 Rs concept, through various activities at the Customer Day. http: //www. bt. com. bn/news-national/2010/05/10/callpublic-reduce-reuse-and-recycle news. brunei. fm/. . . /recycling-buddies-receives-sponsorship-for-green-efforts

Brunei’s Recycling Bins As you can see they are sponsored by Daikyo Environmental Recycling. They have the following branches but I just wonder where else in Brunei these bins are located. Daikyo Environmental Recycling Main Scrap Yard: Simpang 287 Jln Serasa Muara, BT 1128 Brunei Darussalam Branch: Lot 129 -87 Kp Bengkurong Masin BS 1920, BSB, Brunei Darussalam Seria Branch: Lot 4004, Jln Pangsa, Seria, Brunei Darussalam KB Branch: Lot 4680, Jln Setia Diraja, Kuala Belait Brunei Darussalam